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and found a kitten look in her face. She gazed at Timka longest, trying to
find in her the lethal steel that dispatched a tried and proven fighter like
Hested Vanker in something like thirty seconds. She cupped her tea bowl in
both hands, relishing the gentle warmth that flowed up her arms. "Thirty
seconds?"
Timka wrinkled her nose. "I should try playing with him? He was a fool. I'm
not."
"And I shouldn't make the same mistake?"
"Why fuss over me? You've nothing riding on my head."
"Might have."
"Only if you're more fool than you look." Skeen chuckled. "Ware the claws,
Mamarana." The blue gaze switched to her, cooled several degrees. "I could say
the same to you, I hear you're tying up with the Virgin and Hopeless."
"The Virgin said Yes before I asked. Tell me how to cross that."
"The Virgin's Eye works for her and Hopeless. What's good for them could be
lousy for you."
"True. But the Eye SAW."
Mamarana made a sucking sound, tongue against teeth, but she didn't push on
with an argument she couldn't win. She turned instead to Tibo. "You have worms
in your head, my Tib. You should wiggle loose while you have your skin." When
Tibo shook his head, she sighed, eyes gone bitter with defeat. She rocked in
her chair a moment, saying nothing; when she spoke again she ignored Skeen and
focused on Tibo. "Rostico Burn. He came out of the Cluster. Rumor says
somewhere around the Veil."
Tibo glanced at Skeen but said nothing.
Mamarana ignored that also. "He arrive to Sundari Pit seven year standard ago
working by himself a Empire cruiser which he didn't say how he got that had a
bellyful of uniques he sold Buzzard which credit he use mostly to have the
ship worked over in Luo's shipyards into something a singleton could handle
with more than hope and luck. He shut his mouth about where he got his cargo
though there was pressure put. Zald and Zabeeda 'bushed him when he nosed over
to Riddle in the Lop. He turned up half a year later in Stridor's Whistle. He
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sold the cruiser and registered Zald/Zabeeda in his own name. Had Zald's name
on a quitclaim. Haven't seen Zald and Zabeeda since. People backed off some.
Next thing he went in with Roman the Fly on a Rooning, did pretty well on
that. Got involved with a woman in Whistle Pit, hung around there for some
months. Disappeared for a year. Not many know this, but he spent that time on
University studying and poking about in the Library. One of the things he
spent some time on was that study Scholar Kettel did on the Rooners. You're in
there, Skeen. the Rooning of Kyapol, though I wouldn't be one to scratch that
vanity of yours. Came back to Stridor's Whistle, but the woman had moved on by
then. Took up with Seraph and his Pets, went over to the Herren worlds and got
off with a load of technics that he peddled through Pincher in the Whistle.
Came back to Sundari a couple months after you went for Kildun Aalda, Tib."
She raised her brows, lifted a corner of her generous mouth. shifting the map
of wrinkles her face had fallen into, velvety curtains of pale flesh, as she
looked from one carefully blank face to the next. "He played around a bit.
took off again. Alone this time. Which was a bad idea because the Herren had
snagships waiting for him. As soon as he cleared Pit Space, they fished him up
from the insplit and went off with him. Either he hadn't covered himself
enough or Seraph got high and breathed into the wrong ear. Bad judgment
picking on Seraph and the Herren worlds at the same time. Young. Time would
euro that if he could find some. The Herren bought him space on Pillory."
Tibo slapped his hand against his thigh, clamped his mouth on what he wanted
to say but would not in his mum's presence.
Skeen rubbed at her nose. "The woman?"
"Word is Cidder got her."
"The Buzzard's fairly sure Rallen is somewhere around the Veil because that's
where Rostico Burn came out of the Cluster." Skeen set her tea bowl down,
brushed crumbs off her thighs. "Maybe so, maybe not. If it was me with the
load, I'd have backed and filled a lot before I popped loose, used the Veil as
a last trap to suck the snagships off me. I'd say a lot depended on how hard
he was being pressed."
"Hmm." Mamarana's hands twitched, but she made no direct comment on Skeen's
musings. "Smart boy, kept his mouth shut. Chanidi Bli, that's the woman, she
probably did some prying, but I doubt she learned anything important. I happen
to know Waygoz the Nose went to University for a few days, trying for
cross-matches on Rallen. Got nothing, came back more than half convinced Burn
made up the name." Again she scanned the faces, grunted as they told her
nothing. "Cream took his slider into the Cluster and poked about the Veil, one
of the working girls from the Nymph's Navel got that much out of him, you know
Cream, he's slipp'rier than a ghost's shadow, but he beat it out of there, his
tail on fire. Old Bones the Undying has tightened his grip some more. He's got
the Cluster divided into sectors and any traffic between them has cruiser
escort; legit trade's down to a trickle, the other kind's been near squeezed
out, but the Cluster's a big place and there's more sliding around the rules
than you'd expect. Especially near the Veil. Cream said it did peculiar things
to his instruments and he couldn't stay in the Insplit very long, he was
popping his head up like a dog running through high grass. He come out of the
Cluster with two snagships on his tail and a mauler pooling along behind them;
he said it was Bona Fortuna and vortex that broke him loose. And he come out
empty. Lot of stars in the Veil, he said, he sampled a few of them hoping he'd
stumble across Rallen, but when he got low on fuel he had to give up."
Skeen sighed. "That means we have to get Burn off Pillory." She tried to look
rueful but wasn't very convincing; she was excited, aching to try it.
"No!" Mamarana slapped her hand down on the chair arm, knocking her tea bowl
onto the carpet. "I forbid it, no!" She scowled at Tibo, but got no help from
him; the wildness in him had leaped to meet the fire in Skeen. He was gazing
at her, holding in laughter. Mamarana couldn't be sure he even heard her
protest; she felt her strength flaking away and for the first time in a long
time regretted her dying and felt the helplessness of great age. She gathered
herself, put force in her voice. "Redeem him," she said. "Pay Pillory's
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price."
Skeen relaxed, stretched out her long legs. "I'll think about it, supposing I
can come up with the sum and can work a way of doing it without calling Cidder
down on me. Provided the Kliu Berej don't have him on a no ransom contract.
Provided it doesn't take too long to arrange, we've got a deadline that can't
be shifted."
Tension slipped out of Mamarana. She closed her eyes. "Pour me some tea, Tib,"
she said and let a quaver into her voice. When he tapped her hand to tell her
the bowl was there, she smiled fondly up at him, then began working at Timka
and Lipitero, trying to tease their histories out of them. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]